Kinshasa was a village on the south bank of the Congo when Stanley passed through in 1877. He returned in 1881 and established Leopoldville on the banks of contemporary Kintambo and Ngaliema. A post was opened upriver at Kinshasa in 1883. In 1923 Leopoldville was named the capital, comprising both Kinshasa and Leopoldville, established at Kalina (now Gombe), while "old" Leopoldville remained the capital of the Province. The Leopoldville-Kinshasa agglomeration was renamed Kinshasa in 1966.

TRANSLATE

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

In the summer of 1943, the U.S. Office of
Strategic Services (OSS), forerunner of the CIA, placed an agent code-named
“Teton” in Leopoldville.In real
life a Michigander of Belgian descent named Antoine George Nader, he presented
himself as Dr. Wilbur Hogue, on a mission to identify young Americans of draft
age.His real assignment was to
figure out what was happening to Congo’s diamond production, so critical to the
Allied war effort, but which had suddenly dropped by an amount equivalent to
the stones sold to Germany before the War.The OSS suspected someone was clandestinely smuggling the
diamonds out of the country to the Third Reich.

The Congo diamond region

To legitimize his credentials and get
some leads, Hogue stopped by the Institut de Medecine Tropicale Reine Astrid on
Ave. Tombeur to consult an OSS informant, Dr. Adrien VanBrutsaert, who was
working on a cure for sleeping sickness.VanBrutsaert suggested Hogue take a room at the Hotel ABC (See Mar. 27, 2011) and spend time
in the bar, which always saw a steady traffic of locals and visitors of various
stripes and origins.Hogue checked
into the ABC and shaved his mustache, which he felt made him look too much like
a spy.

Dr. VanBrutsaert's laboratory

Later that evening, Hogue took a place at
the bar, playing with the tame python that liked to curl around patrons’
ankles.

From behind he heard a breathy voice, “You
look new to Congo”. Crossing the
room was a knockout blonde.“Virginie Mayonnez”, she said, offering her hand, “I work at the Free
French Consulate”.Hogue introduced
himself using his official cover story.“You won’t find many suitable boys for your army here”, Virginie responded,
“most of them are missionary kids and spend their time making pets of exotic
animals from the jungle”.

Hogue sensed another presence at his
elbow.“Monsieur”, said the man in
uniform, “Commissaire Smoutenbol of the Leopoldville Police. You must come to
our office tomorrow to complete some formalities. Just routine, of course”.

After the policeman left, Hogue asked,
“Can we have dinner tomorrow?”.“But of course”, answered Virginie, “Meet me at the Café de la Paix at
8:00”.

The bar at the Hotel A.B.C.

When Hogue arrived at the Police Station
the next morning, he found Virginie, Commissaire Smoutenbol and several sunburned-looking
men loitering on the verandah.It
looked as though they had just come out of a meeting.They dispersed and Virginie left without even acknowledging
him.Hogue completed three
sheets of official forms for Smoutenbol, who duly stamped and initialed each
page.

The Leopoldville Police Station

Virginie was waiting for Hogue at the Café
de la Paix.She explained that
Smoutenbol had been meeting with a delegation of cotton planters from Kasai
Province.One of them was French
and had a draft-age son, so the policeman had called her in for that.“But, there seems to be something more going
on with them than just the cotton harvest”, observed Virginie.

While they were waiting for their drinks,
a tall man in a white suit stopped by their table. He flirted with Virginie,
reminding her that his offer of a sightseeing flight over Stanley Pool was
still on the table.

“That’s Zamboni”, she explained to Hogue after the man left. “He runs a small
trucking company, but he just got a new aeroplane. No one knows how he managed that, considering military
priorities these days.” Sensing
Virginie could be trusted with a little insight into the true nature of his
mission in Leopoldville, Hogue opined that he was interested in knowing more
about the Kasai economy. She suggested he talk with a Congolese nurse, Albert
Monganga.

Virginie and Hogue at the Cafe de la Paix

Monganga was an “Assistant Medical”, highly trained and with years of experience,
but in the segregated society of the Belgian Congo, could never become a
doctor. Hogue found him at the Municipal Hygiene office on Ave. Wanson near the Zoo (See Feb. 6, 2011).
Explaining his recommendation from Mlle. Mayonnez, Hogue embarked on a
convoluted exposition concerning missionary kids, the war effort and the Kasai
economy.Did Monganga have any
thoughts on the matter?“I have
heard that there are a lot of visitors these days at the ‘Petit Chutes’ outside
town, the Chutes de la Lukaya.” Monganga replied, “You might want to take a
look there”.

Albert Monganga directs Hogue to the Chutes de la
Lukaya

The next morning Hogue took a small launch up
the Lukaya to the falls.As he
approached the beach, a shot ricocheted off the metal roof of his little
steamer.Hogue steered into the
papyrus and circled round to the thicket where the gunshot had come from.

Hogue approaching the Chutes de la Lukaya

Suddenly, someone jumped him from behind.Hogue threw the man off and picked up a
large rock.Something told him
this was no time for subtlety.“What do you know about the diamonds?” he roared.

“Commissaire Smoutenbol has organized a
smuggling ring.” his attacker groaned miserably, “The planters bring the
diamonds to town when they come on business and Zamboni flies them out of the
country”.Hogue tied the man up and
sent him floating down the Lukaya in his row-boat.

Hogue fends off his attacker

Getting to the truth

Back at the Hotel ABC in Leopoldville, Hogue sent a message detailing the entire smuggling operation to OSS Headquarters on
a special transmitter provided to him by the spy agency.“CONGO CROSSING DIFFICULT PERIOD IN WAR
EFFORT…” it began.Just as he
finished transmitting, Virginie knocked on the door and entered with Albert
Monganga.Without elaborating, she
looked him in the eyes, saying, “You have done a great service to the Allied
war effort”.Suddenly, a shot
crashed through the door, just missing Monganga.Hogue grabbed his agency-issued semi-automatic.“Who is it?” he growled.

Hogue's room at the Hotel A.B.C. (note special transmitting equipment at left)

Zamboni
pushed open the door and entered, pistol at the ready.“I see you met my friends at the
falls”, he stated.“You’re clever,
and good with your hands.You
should join my company.I could
pay you very handsomely”, he said, flashing a wad of bills.

“Get out of here”, snapped Hogue, “your kind
will never succeed”.

M. Zamboni offers a deal

The
next morning, Hogue received a terse response from headquarters. “ALLIED PARTNERS
WARY OF COMPROMISING KEY STRATEGIC INTERESTS IN WAR RESOURCES EFFORT.MAKE NO FURTHER INQUIRIES, SUSPEND ALL
INVESTIGATIONS INTO ILLICIT DIAMOND BUYING”.Bitterly disappointed, Hogue packed up his transmitter.

In the afternoon, dressed in his best
suit and pith helmet, he took a taxi to Ndolo airport (See Jan. 27, 2014) where he saw Zamboni
walking to his plane carrying a large case.The diamonds!Enraged at the ease of it all, he whipped out his pistol.“Zamboni!” he yelled, then thought
better of it. Duty first.“Have a
nice flight” was all he could muster.